“God’s glory is personally beneficial to those who follow Him. Understanding God’s glory reveals the certainty with which we can receive His promises. There is never a dichotomy between displaying God’s greatness and resting in His love. The ancient story of Assyria’s calloused threats against Judah during the reign of King Hezekiah illustrates that God saves us for the glory of His name and for our good. We, in turn, make known His glory so that others will rest in His grace.”– The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

God the Father saves us for the glory of His name and for our good.

Christ Connection:

Hezekiah prayed for God to manifest His glory by saving His people from the pagan kingdom that was rising against them. God exalted His name by answering Hezekiah’s prayer. Jesus also prayed for the salvation of His people, and through His death and resurrection, He accomplished the ultimate manifestation of God’s glory through defeating the enemy and saving His people.

Missional Application:

God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to live on mission for His kingdom because we know that God is victorious over His enemies.

Hundreds of years before Christ was born, Isaiah prophesied about a mysterious Servant who would be rejected and despised yet bring salvation through His suffering. The early Christians believed this prophecy was made about Jesus and His life and work. As those who benefit from the service and suffering of Jesus, we now embrace a life of suffering and service on behalf of others. – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme

Salvation comes through the suffering of God- Father, Son and Spirit’s chosen Servant.

Christ Connection

Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, God opened the eyes of Isaiah to see the coming Savior with detail no one had seen before. Isaiah prophesied about a mysterious Servant who would be rejected and despised and yet accomplish salvation through His suffering. The New Testament shows that this prophecy is about Jesus and His work.

Missional Application

As those who benefit from the service and suffering of Jesus, we, through His Holy Spirit, now embrace a life of suffering and service on behalf of others.

“The Servant would be regarded as a great conqueror, one who shares the spoils of victory with his followers. Victory, however, would come only through the fact that the Servant was willing to suffer as a sin-bearer and pour out himself in death. Through his death and resurrection he made intercession (53:12).” – James E. Smith

The prophet Isaiah had a vision of God high and lifted up—holy and glorious in His temple. In light of God’s piercing holiness, Isaiah received a proper vision of his own sin and unworthiness. But God, in His grace, restored Isaiah to service and gave the prophet a message for the people. Like Isaiah, we too are undone by the vision of God’s glory, but through His grace, God deals with our sin and then commissions us to deliver His message of love to the world. – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is holy and glorious beyond compare. “Our God is a consuming fire. He is satisfied only when His love totally consumes us…We should not resent the fact that God wants to guard our relationship with Him. It should bring us comfort.” – Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby

Christ Connection:

Isaiah had a vision of a throne room with a divine King. Jesus later claimed that Isaiah had seen His glory and thus the prophet’s words were about Him (John 12:32,41). Like Isaiah, when we see ourselves in light of God’s holiness, we recognize our sinful state and need for salvation.

Missional Application:

God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to live in light of our salvation by willingly delivering His message to the world, no matter how unpopular it may be.

The prophet Elisha healed a foreigner named Naaman. This story gives us a beautiful illustration of our need for salvation and healing from God as well as the humility required to receive that healing. Unless we are humble enough to receive God’s salvation in the way He has planned, we will not be healed of our spiritual disease. Once we humbly receive His grace, however, we are then set free to testify to His goodness and reflect glory back to Him through our obedience.- The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

Unless we are humble enough to receive God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit’s salvation in the way He has planned, we will not be healed of our spiritual disease.

Christ Connection:

Naaman was sick with a skin problem, and his disease went away only after he obeyed God’s instruction to wash in the river. All people are sick with a sin problem and in need of healing. God calls us to humbly repent and believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior so that our sin can be washed away.

Missional Application:

Like the servant girl in this story, we (through The Holy Spirit) are to point others to the place where their disease can be washed away.

No amount of effort, resources, or human connection can rescue us from the deadly prognosis of our moral infection. Left to ourselves, we will die in our trespasses and sins despite our attempts to the contrary. Apart from the compassionate interruption of the cross, our lives spiral toward certain death and judgment (Rom. 1:18-19).

The good news is that Jesus Christ bore the leprosy of our soul by sacrificing Himself for us (Isa. 53:4). Jesus is not the best hope we have; He is the only hope we have. Receiving the grace of God through His Son in no way diminishes the offense of our fallen existence. If anything, Christ’s insistence that He must do for us what we cannot do for ourselves reinforces how painfully wicked we are apart from God’s rescue.- The Gospel Project

“After the events on Mount Carmel, the prophet Elijah succumbed to discouragement and despair. In response to Elijah’s circumstances, God revealed Himself. The God who sent down fire from heaven in a bold and spectacular display of His power is the same God who whispered to Elijah in a quiet moment of sustaining grace. God strengthens us in our despair, challenges the lies we believe, and then ministers to us through His Word and through His people. As the recipients of God’s grace, we, in turn, rely on His power to deliver His message of comfort.“- The Gospel Project

“What God The Father has revealed about Himself through Jesus and in The Scriptures and by The Holy Spirit is that He both shouts and whispers” – Pastor Timothy Brassell

Theological Theme

God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is gracious to reveal Himself to His people.

Christ Connection

Elijah was a prophet who faced persecution and opposition from those who rejected God. His example points forward to Jesus, the greatest prophet, who endured opposition for delivering God’s Word.

Missional Application

God- through His Holy Spirit, calls us to rely on Him for the strength we need to deliver His message.

“Not being reconciled to the fact of sin— not recognizing it and refusing to deal with it— produces all the disasters in life. You may talk about the lofty virtues of human nature, but there is something in human nature that will mockingly laugh in the face of every principle you have. If you refuse to agree with the fact that there is wickedness and selfishness, something downright hateful and wrong, in human beings, when it attacks your life, instead of reconciling yourself to it, you will compromise with it and say that it is of no use to battle against it. Have you taken this “hour, and the power of darkness” into account, or do you have a view of yourself which includes no recognition of sin whatsoever? In your human relationships and friendships, have you reconciled yourself to the fact of sin? If not, just around the next corner you will find yourself trapped and you will compromise with it. But if you will reconcile yourself to the fact of sin, you will realize the danger immediately and say, “Yes, I see what this sin would mean.” The recognition of sin does not destroy the basis of friendship— it simply establishes a mutual respect for the fact that the basis of sinful life is disastrous. Always beware of any assessment of life which does not recognize the fact that there is sin.

Jesus Christ never trusted human nature, yet He was never cynical nor suspiciousbecause He had absolute trust in what He could do for human nature. The pure man or woman is the one who is shielded from harm, not the innocent person. The so-called innocent man or woman is never safe. Men and women have no business trying to be innocent; God demands that they be pure and virtuous. Innocence is the characteristic of a child. Any person is deserving of blame if he is unwilling to reconcile himself to the fact of sin.”- Oswald Chambers

“God is calling us to be pure and virtuous….we are being called right now to recognize that even though this Great Grace is upon us and it’s all true that Christ still stands in for us and we are perfect in Him…it [also] means our participation, and that participation isn’t false….it is just by faith. It is the obedience of faith……God is calling us to think more out of this and really live and participate and not be so run over by this world and so accommodating to it, and to trust Him to be God. “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6: 10 ” -Pastor Timothy Brassell.

“After the events on Mount Carmel, the prophet Elijah succumbed to discouragement and despair. In response to Elijah’s circumstances, God revealed Himself. The God who sent down fire from heaven in a bold and spectacular display of His power is the same God who whispered to Elijah in a quiet moment of sustaining grace. God strengthens us in our despair, challenges the lies we believe, and then ministers to us through His Word and through His people. As the recipients of God’s grace, we, in turn, rely on His power to deliver His message of comfort.“- The Gospel Project

Theological Theme

God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is gracious to reveal Himself to His people.

Christ Connection

Elijah was a prophet who faced persecution and opposition from those who rejected God. His example points forward to Jesus, the greatest prophet, who endured opposition for delivering God’s Word.

Missional Application

God- through His Holy Spirit, calls us to rely on Him for the strength we need to deliver His message.

“Life is often not as straightforward as we would like it to be. In the midst of such a period of life, Elijah forgot the truth of God’s power over Jezebel. Like many of us, he responded to his threatening circumstance by running away…..Everyone faces the disappointing sting of failure in some way or another. We do not need to beat ourselves up for our moments of despair, nor deny them. Yet we cannot stay in them forever…Depression can skew how we see truth, and we are extremely vulnerable to this when under duress and fatigue.

I’ve found that it is good to allow myself room for disappointment but also not to forget to allow God room to minister to me. I need to remember what God has done for me: in large ways, such as offering the gift of salvation and giving me hope in Jesus Christ; in small ways, such as caring for and ministering to me daily.

As the body of Christ, we must be available to minister to one another in these times. We must encourage people to draw closer to the body of Christ, but sometimes we must take time away in solitude with God and His Word, so the Lord Himself may minister to us. Our example here is Jesus, who frequently drew away from the crowds to pray and be alone with God.

Whether Elijah fled his situation out of fatigue, fear, lack of faith, or disappointment, he still ran. But even in his despair and running, God was still there, ministering in truth and love.”- The Gospel Project

“On Mount Carmel, the prophet Elijah demonstrated the stark contrast between the demand placed on our lives by pursuing false idols and the resources God provides for us to pursue our relationship with Him. In the end, one pursuit leaves us bled out and used up; the other pursuit builds us back up and ministers to us so we can minister to others.” – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme

False gods demand strenuous effort and sacrifice, but the true God- Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is known by His grace and power.

Christ Connection

The prophets of Baal danced and slashed themselves before the altar, thinking they must bleed in order to express their devotion. But the true God is different than false gods like Baal. He expressed His devotion to us by sending His Son—Jesus Christ—who bled and died for us so that we could receive His grace through faith.

Missional Application

God- Through His Holy Spirit, calls us not to hesitate or be hindered by idolatry but to join in His mission of turning people’s hearts back to Him.

“The god who answers with fire will challenge the source of your faith. God has started a work in you that He is faithful to complete.” – Pastor Richard Andrews

“Psalm 1 sets the stage for all the psalms, showing us a vision of God’s people who delight in God’s Word. Psalm 100 shows how the Psalms call us to celebrate who God is and give thanks for what He has done. Psalm 110 points forward to the coming Messiah, who will make all things right. As we read and pray and sing the psalms, we identify with the people of God who offer our lives in worship for His great name.” – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

Worship is bringing glory to God- Father, Son and Holy Spirit for His Word, His works, and His promise.

“The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express that same delight in God which made David dance.” –C. S. Lewis

Christ Connection:

The psalms cover the spectrum of life. We praise God for His goodness and grace, we confess our sin, and we lament the brokenness of this world. When Jesus came, He stepped into the pain and brokenness of this world and sang these psalms with His people. But Jesus not only sings the psalms; He is the King whom these psalms are ultimately about.

“The more deeply we grow into the psalms and the more often we pray them as our own, the more simple and rich will our prayer become.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Missional Application:

God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to join all of creation in praising Him for who He is and what He has done and to point others to the Messiah that they might join in worshiping the King.

“The delightful study of the Psalms has yielded me boundless profit and ever-growing pleasure; common gratitude constrains me to communicate to others a portion of the benefit, with the prayer that it may induce them to search further for themselves.”― Charles Spurgeon, in his preface to The Treasury of David

“Solomon prayed for wisdom, and God granted him incredible blessings in response. We see how he requested God’s wisdom, how he reigned in wisdom, and the blessings that resulted from his wisdom. We also see how desperately God’s people today need the wisdom and insight that only comes from walking with God.” – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

God- Father, Son and Spirit’s promise to make His people a light to the nations began to come true during the reign of Solomon, a king whose wisdom came from God.

Christ Connection:

Solomon reigned with great wisdom and insight, and he foreshadows the coming of a greater king— Jesus, in whom is hidden “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3).

Missional Application:

God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to depend on Him for wisdom from above and to live wisely before others as a testimony to our all-wise God.

“Wisdom should not be equated with intellectual giftedness or philosophical brilliance. Wisdom expresses itself in the way one lives. Human beings do not have the capacity to acquire wisdom on their own, for that would require ascending to heaven, and thus those who are wise put their trust in the words revealed by God.” –Tom Schreiner

“King David fell into sin and experienced all of its ugly consequences. In David, we see sin’s capacity to enslave us and to motivate us to cover it up. But we also see the possibility of renewal through confession. As believers, we must see all of our sin as an offense toward God and rely on the forgiveness available to us through the sacrifice of the Father’’s Son in order to be restored.” – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme

All sin is ultimately directed toward God- Father, Son, and Spirit.

Christ Connection

Even David, the greatest of Israel’s kings and a man after God’s own heart, was a sinner in need of redemption. In the story of David, we recognize that all of us need forgiveness through the sacrifice of the perfect King, Jesus Christ, who would take upon Himself the punishment our sins deserve.

Missional Application

God, through the Holy Spirit, calls us to be transparent about our sin and to live in repentance so that others will know there is hope for forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

“God’s gift is offered to all in order to be received by all. It is received by having faith in what God in Christ through the Holy Spirit has done for us. It is by faith in the grace of God that we begin participating in the relationship Jesus has restored, and start receiving the benefits included in that relationship.” – The God Revealed in Jesus Christ – a Booklet